Please join us on Labor Day with family and friends for a veg potluck. We’ll share stories about our late Guruji, B.K.S. Iyengar, and how his yoga has influenced us.

Memory in the Yoga Tradition

Memory has always played an important role in yoga. Even for the literate, text memorization has been an inviolable part of the oral tradition. The Vedas, composed by God, were shruti, “heard,” but the epic texts and Yoga Sutras were smrti, “remembered” by man.

Memory itself need neither be impermanent nor inaccurate. The ceremonial courtyard patterns, kolam, of rice powder designed by Indian women are meant to be impermanent. When walked on, they are, of course, “destroyed.” But the women view it in a different way: the bare feet of their family “carry” the sacred elements of the design across the threshold, blessing the home. Their ritual art must vanish in order that its imprint, the samskara, remain intact. Moreover, it must be physically destroyed — not only to be remembered, but also to be reborn.[1]

We yoga practitioners, including our late beloved Guruji Iyengar, must die in order to be reborn. Only our memories of him sustain us now. Many of you know that I have documented the work of Guruji Iyengar through transcripts and photos. You may not know that he hated when I wrote things down instead of listening. I, of course, was afraid I would neverremember. But he knew that if I were truly present in that moment, I could neverforget. And the things I remember best were never written down.

Ganga, Yamuna, & Saraswati

The images of river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna (Jamuna in Hindi) often flank the entrances of Hindu temples.[1] Just as the sacred Ganges River flows from its source in the Himalayas to irrigate its plains, so has Mother Ganga descended from Heaven to give life to the dead and purify the living — whether virtuous or sinful.

At Allahabad, west of Varanasi, the Ganges joins her sister river, the Yamuna.[2] When Yama, Yamuna’s twin brother, was banished by their step-mother to rule the underworld as the god of Death, Yamuna’s tears of grief formed the Yamuna River. By bathing in the Yamuna River one is spared a painful death.

The confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers is defined as a tri-veni, triple braid, because it also joins with the long-ago dried up Saraswati River. The serene river goddess Saraswati also represents purification, as well as the path of jnana, knowledge, that leads to Self-Realization. Her “waters” are transformative, carrying the pilgrims from bondage to liberation.

Ganges, Yamuna, & Saraswati: Ida, Pingala, & Sushumna Nadis

The yoga sadhaka (practitioner) is an internal pilgrim who immerses himself in these sacred qualities of the river — purification, compassion, and enlightenment. This internal ritual is expressed in B.K.S. Iyengar’s statement, “The body is my temple. The asanas are my prayers,”[3] an expression of the macrocosm of the universe within the microcosm of the body:[4]

In the tantric physiology of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the Saraswati rivers are metaphorically recreated in the ida (left), the pingala (right), and the sushumna (center) nadis, the three main channels in the spinal cord.[5]Ida terminates at the left nostril and corresponds to the coolness of the moon. Pingala terminates at the right nostril and corresponds to the warmth of the sun. The sushumnanadi terminates at the top of the head.

Furthermore, as the river flows from the mountain to the sea, the internal geography of the nadis embodies a specific physical direction; that direction determines the flow of practice towards involution, and ultimately, enlightenment:

HYP III.109 Between Ganga and Yamuni lies Balaranda [“young widow”], a tapasvini [ascetic]. She should be seized by force. That [leads to] the supreme seat of Vishnu [her spouse].

HYP III.110 Ida is the holy Ganga, pingala is the nadi [river] Yamuna. Between ida and pingala is the young widow, kundalini.

HYP III.111 That sleeping serpent (Kundalini) should be awakened by seizing her tail. Then, that Shakti, throwing off her sleep, rises up with force [of hatha].

Union of Shiva and Shakti in Tantric Metaphysics

Besides the Saraswati River analogy, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika employs other analogies to describe the function of the sushumnanadi — Balaranda, Kundalini, and Shakti. References to deities, such as Shiva and Shakti, are actually rare in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika; their personifications portray the principle of tantric correspondences common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, as opposed to a strictly parochial theology.[6]

In tantric cosmology, the entire universe is sustained by the union of two fundamental forces, Shiva and Shakti.[7] Shakti represents the ancient Samkhya concept of prakrti (nature). She seeks union with her consort Shiva, or purusha (Self).[8] Without Shakti’s power, the pure consciousness of Shiva is but a shava (corpse). Thus, when this text was composed in the fifteenth century, the “union” of Shiva and Shakti was emphasized.[9]

In tantric metaphysics this union was necessary to both relieve suffering from duality and to liberate the practitioner from bondage:

“For tantric metaphysics, both Hindu and Buddhist, the absolute reality… contains in itself all dualities and polarities, but reunited, reintegrated in a state of absolute Unity (a-dvaya [literally, “non-duality”]). The creation, and the becoming that arose from it, represent the shattering of the primordial unity and the separation of the two principles (Shiva-Shakti, etc.); in consequence, man experiences a state of duality (object-subject, etc.) — and this is suffering, illusion, ‘bondage.’ The purpose of tantric sadhana [practice] is the reunion of the two polar principles within the disciple’s own body.”[10]

Even Patanjali’s dualist yoga embraces aspects of this underlying unity — such as the “macrocosm embodied in the microcosm” of the body — that is so prevalent in Indian thought.

Balaranda Seeks Vishnu: Tapasvini Seeks Purusha

The reverse flow of the Saraswati River towards its source, representing yogic involution towards the Seer, requires great effort. In the “young widow” analogy, Balaranda’s longing for “union” with her dearly departed “spouse,” Vishnu, drives her to practice her tapas, or austerities.

In yoga practice, tapas begins with the steadfast, “effort, energy, and enthusiasm to still the mind”— the definition of abhyasa, practice, in the Yoga Sutras.[11] Ultimately tapas evolves into a dharma (duty); only when practice has reached its most-refined state can the then completely purified chitta (mind) “unite” with purusha, the Seer.[12]

In this union, Lord Vishnu’s purity corresponds to a pristine state of being at the vi-suddhi [literally, “complete-purification”] chakra in the throat region.[13] We believe that what B.K.S. Iyengar has written about the purification of prakrti through its association with purusha in the Yoga Sutras applies here to Balaranda’s “union” with Vishnu:

“[Practice] takes prakrti to its pristine state, bringing an end to the appearance of the seer [purusha] as a distorted or sullied entity. At this state the prakrti adores the purusha, and the purusha adorns the prakrti with purity.”[14]

That Balaranda must be “seized by force” [balatkarena grihniyat] to consummate the “union” refers to hatha yoga requiring willpower and tapas to redirect the chitta (mind) towards enlightenment. In the language of our first metaphor, the waters of the Saraswati River carry the pilgrim from bondage to liberation by reversing the flow of the Saraswati River.[15]

Flow of Kundalini Shakti & Prakrti Shakti

Hatha Yoga Pradipika III.109-111 compares the nadis to Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati. (Here Saraswati is described as Balaranda, Kundalini, and Shakti.)

As the Saraswati River requires an unobstructed flow, so does the Kundalini Shakti require a straight path to ascend in the sushumna nadi. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika verses III.110-111 cited above, Shakti in the body exists in a kunda, a bowl or pot, at the base of the spine. Thus, Shakti is the potential energy personified by the coiled serpent Kundalini. According to B.K.S. Iyengar, “kundalini is a divine cosmic energy (divyashakti) in a latent form.” It is “a power of pure intelligence.”[16]

As we stated at the outset, tantra’s embodiment of internal geography requires a specific direction to achieve enlightenment: To this end, certain mudras and bandhas “straighten out” the sushumnanadi so that the coiled serpent Kundalini, when struck, straightens itself out, like a staff.[17] From this we have derived that, along with purification of chitta, an actual physical alignment is necessary to straighten the spine to allow the kundalini shakti to ascend.

Fifteen hundred years earlier, the Yoga Sutras described the same latent Shakti using different terminology: “According to Patanjali,” writes Guruji Iyengar, “prakrti [nature] has divine power (shakti)” that can afford a transformation in one’s state — described as prakrti-apurat (nature-inflow) in Yoga Sutra IV.2, below. Normally this prakrti shakti (nature power) is veiled by vikrti (a distortion of prakrti, such as illness) shakti in the unenlightened:[18]

PYS IV.2 jati-antara parinamah prakrti-apurat

The apurat (abundant flow) of prakrti (nature’s energy) brings about a parinama (transformation) in jati-antara (one’s birth, stage of life, class), aiding the process of evolution.

In tantric physiology, upon enlightenment, the uncoiled, kundalini ascends through the chitra nadi, a divine but not physical nadi, that resides in the seat of the soul (atmasthana) at the spiritual heart. One end of the nadi extends down to the reproductive organ, the other up to the Brahmarandhra, the “aperture of Brahma” at the crown of the head above the sahasra chakra; it is located at the very center of the susumna nadi.[19] The chitra nadi shines with the luster of AUM, and is pure intelligence (shuddha-bodha-svarupa), from which jnana is derived. In turn, the Brahma nadi is inside the chitra nadi.[20]

However, kundalini shakti does not ascend in the common man: “In reality, only true saints have had their kundalini awakened by divine grace.”[21]

Prakrti: Efficient Cause in Patanjali Yoga Sutras

Patanjali, ca. 200 BCE, compiler of the Yoga Sutras

Just as ritual bathing in a sacred river liberates and energizes the pilgrim, so does yoga sadhana liberate the Seer and energize the yogi. Most commentators interpret the parinama (transformation) cited in Yoga Sutra IV.2 with a focus on reincarnation: they believe that the repository of past kleshas (causes of suffering), samskaras (imprints), and virtuous or vicious actions become the “efficient cause” of the new body. Then prakrti (nature) “fills in” or “impenetrates” (apura) the new form.

But, as Guruji Iyengar points out, “A true yogi will never think of an incarnation.”[22] Instead the sadhaka (dedicated practitioner) seeks precision, purity, and perfection in practice — what were characterized as “divine” qualities in ancient times.

The effect of prakrti-apura (nature-inflow) is that “The energy in a perfect yogi flows abundantly… everywhere in the body.”[23] Shifting the focus to the power of prakrti shakti redirects the emphasis of the sutra from the effect of reincarnation to its cause — which is the subject of the next sutra:

PYS IV.3 Nimitta (efficient cause) does not impel prakrti (nature) into motion. It only removes the obstacles, like a farmer (irrigating a field: nature impenetrates by itself when the hindrances are removed).

Whereas the Hatha Yoga Pradipika requires a physical prerequisite — uncoiling the sushumna nadi — to activate potential kundalini shakti, Patanjali bases yoga on a more broadly inclusive behavioral purification necessary for liberation. “Efficient cause” is purging the a-dharma (vice) that obstructs the flow of prakrti: prakrti can then supply that energy.[24] Sage Vyasa, in his commentary on Yoga Sutra IV.3, posits that dharma (virtue) pierces [bheda] the veil of a-dharma (vice). When dharma suppresses a-dharma, it is compared to weeding the field so that the crop may sustain itself.[25] Swami Hariharananda explains that when a-dharma, which is hostile to prakrti, is destroyed, “the innate prakrti [impelled by purusha, the Self] will impenetrate the organ and shape it.”[26] The key concept is that purusha is the underlying cause because, as Yoga Sutra II.18 states, “[prakrti] exists eternally to serve purusha.”

Yoga Sutras IV.2-3 explain how asana practice “builds strength.”

B.K.S. Iyengar performs Adho Mukha Svanasana, ca. 1991

When I was young, I watched Guruji Iyengar perform Adho Mukha Svanasana for fifteen minutes in his daily practice without breaking a sweat. I assumed it required great physical strength, as I could stay in the asana for barely three minutes.

Decades later, I have come to understand how the yogin cultivates his “field” of body and mind like a farmer to accrue that strength: He skillfully removes the obstacles or “irrigates his field” by “piercing the dyke” of a-dharma, to channel the flow of prakrti, nature’s energy, into him. The resulting impenetration forms the asana.

Although it takes many years of gross physical effort to perfect asana, there are incremental signs of the impenetration of prakrti along the way — it’s easier to hold the correct pose for a longer period of time, with less fatigue. Whether the lack of fatigue is a result of correct “spacing and placing,” or improved circulation that comes with mechanical alignment,[27] it was historically subsumed under the spiritual mystery of “union.” And, by the way, this impenetration of prakrti fundamentally distinguishes asana from calisthenics, which are initially weakening.

The impenetration of prakrti, that results from when the obstacles are skillfully removed, is also the basis of restorative poses:

B.K.S. Iyengar performs Supported Setubandha Sarvangasana

In Brick Setubandha, the jalandhara bandha acts as a “dyke” both to prevent the outflow of energy, as well as to specifically direct the flow of energy within. It’s easy to feel the flow of energy into the throat region when it descends and relaxes to the sides, just as the energetic Balaranda reunited with Vishnu at the throat area. The inflow of prakrti creates space that is described as shunya, void, in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.[28]

Ida, Pingala, & Sushumna Nadis in Asana

Often we think of the ida, pingala, and sushumnanadis (channels) only in pranayama, but they also play a part in asana practice. The following instruction helped me understand the correct action in Adho Mukha Svanasana[29] some twenty years ago. Although it employs the imagery of the three rivers, one should not presume that it can uncoil the latent kundalini shakti.

Supporting the crown of the head on a brick, stretch the arms and paraspinal muscles, Ganga on the left and Yamuna on the right, up towards the sacrum to first lengthen the torso. (The spine must first be elongated to facilitate the uncoiling of the kundalini shakti.[31])

Then allow the spine itself, the River Saraswati, which is silent and runs underground, to lengthen and descend towards the head without losing the lift of the paraspinals. Without lifting the head, lengthen the arms by lifting the triceps to maintain the length and lift of the torso.

These actions also apply to Sirsasana. Similarly, the spine must also maintain its extension without shrugging the shoulders in Paschimottanasana and Ustrasana, etc.

Concluding Thoughts on Kundalini Shakti

Descent of Ganga: King Bhagiratha performs Vrksasana at the upper left as a penance to encourage Mother Ganga to descend from heaven to wash away the sins of his dead ancestors. The deceitful cat, surrounded by mice, mimics the ascetic (below elephant tusk): Mahabalipuram, ca. 7th c. C.E. photo by columbia.edu

As we have explored, the analogy of the rivers-representing-nadis is based on an understanding of tantric metaphysics; how to direct the energy is based on Patanjali’s view of cause and effect. B.K.S. Iyengar’s unique insight is that precision, purity, and perfection in practice can direct that inflow of energy into the body, despite pre-existing samskaras [“impressions” that cause limitations]. This not only gives us hope, but also provides us with the tools to relieve our own suffering.

Srinivasa Iyangar, The Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama with Commentary Jyotsna of Brahmananda, Madras: Adyar Library and Research Center, The Theosphical Society, 1893. Revised 1972. Because I have not found a downloadable version of this, I have listed Sinh’s translation, below.

Footnotes

[1] Political historians believe that the motives of the Rashtrakuta kings — who built the Ellora cave temples from 600-1000 CE, having conquered a 650,000 square mile area from the Gangetic plains in the north to the southern tip of India — concentrated more on establishing their southern geographical legitimacy by including carvings of the northern deities Ganga and Yamuna than just representing purification and compassion.

[2] Allahabad is the site of an annual winter mela, convocation of pilgrims, that extends back at least 2000 years. Every twelve years, when the underground Saraswati River “rises to the surface” to join her sister rivers, the great kumbha mela occurs, attracting thirty million bathers seeking to wash away their sins and liberate themselves from rebirth. The celebration is named for the kumbha, or pot, that contained amrita, the nectar of immortality. When the gods and demons battled for the pot of nectar, four drops splashed to earth — at the sacred sites of Prayaga (Allahabad), Nashik, Hardwar, and Ujjain.

“Here, within the body, is the Ganges and the Jumna,” is first attributed to Sarapada (c. 900 C.E. founder of the Mahamudra sect of Vajrayana Buddhism and the first poet in Oriya): Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton: Bollingen Foundation / Princeton University Press, 1958. rev. 1970. P. 227, citing S. Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults, Calcutta: Firma KLM, 1995.

[6] During the fourth century C.E. tantra gained popularity with ascetics and yogins, becoming a pan-Indian vogue from the 6th century onward: “In a comparatively short time, Indian philosophy, mysticism, ritual, ethics, cosmology, and even literature were influenced by tantrism. It was a pan-Indian movement, for it was assimilated by all the great Indian religions and by all the ‘sectarian’ schools. There is a Buddhist tantrism [c. 400 C.E.] and a Hindu tantrism…. Jainism too accepts certain tantric methods, and strong tantric influences can be seen in Kashmirian Shaivism, in the great Panchratra movement (c. 550), in the Bhagavata Purana (c. 600), and in other Vishnuist devotional schools.” Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1970. P. 201

[7] Eliade writes, “… for the first time in the spiritual history of Aryan India, the Great Goddess acquired a predominant position. Early in the second century of our era, two feminine divinities made their way into Buddhism: Prajna-paramita… an incarnation of Supreme Wisdom, and Tara, the epiphany of the Great Goddess of aboriginal India. In Hinduism the Shakti, the “cosmic force,” was raised to the rank of Divine Mother who sustains not only the universe and all its beings, but also the various manifestations of the gods.” Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1970. P. 202

[9] In this context, the desire for “union” with God represents a pan-Indian ideal. It can be compared to the Christian saying, “He’s gone to meet his Maker in Heaven,” a euphemism for death. Although derived from Christian theology, it symbolizes the death of a “good” person. Agreement that he led an exemplary life is not contingent upon accepting specific theological principles of Judgment, creation, or Heaven.

At the 1984 Annual Day at RIMYI, Guruji Iyengar had me explain the polarities of yin and yang from Taoist philosophy. He then compared them to the ida and pingalanadis.

[11] VB I.13 Absence of fluctuations (vrittis) or undisturbed calmness (santa) of mind is called sthiti, or tranquillity. The effort (prayatna), the energy (virya) and the enthusiasm (utsaha)… for attaining that state is called abhyasa, practice.

B.K.S. Iyengar, Core of the Yoga Sutras: the Definitive Guide to the Philosophy of Yoga, London: HarperThorsons, 2012. P. 46

In Patanjali’s dualist yoga, chitta can not actually “unite” with purusha, even though it may appear to be a beautiful sentiment. Instead, when chitta becomes so refined and so pure, it no longer obscures the light of purusha. Having fulfilled its function, chitta is reabsorbed into mahat, the universal intelligence from which it evolved. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika uses a non-dualist Vedanta analogy to explain the absorption of the mind into sat-chit-ananda: HYP IV. 59 The mind dissolves like camphor in fire and like salt in water. HYP IV.61 … absorbed [into sat-chit-ananda; a synonym for Brahman], only atma remains behind….

[13] HYP IV.70 When the Brahma granthi (“knot” in the heart; in the anahata chakra) is pierced (bhedo ) through by pranayama, then a sort of happiness is experienced in the shunya (void) of the heart…. See PYS III.35 By samyama on the hrdaye (heart), (the yogi acquires a) thorough knowledge of chitta.

HYP IV.73 When the Vishnugranthi (“knot” in the throat; the visuddhi chakra) is pierced (bhedat ) [by the union of prana and apana, or jivatman and paramatman] there is… supreme bliss. See PYS III.31 Samyama on the kantha kupa (pit of throat)… conquers hunger and thirst and results in sthairyam (stability).

HYP IV.76 When the Rudra [Shiva] granthi is pierced, and the [prana] enters the seat of the Lord (the akasha space between the eyebrows in the ajna chakra), then the perfect sounds like that of a flute and vina are produced. See PYS III.33 Samyama on the murdha jyoti (light of the crown of head)… results in visions of siddhas (perfected beings).

[17] HYP III.11-12 Contract the throat [kanthe bandham; e.g. Jalandhara Bandha in Mahamudra] and hold the breath (vayu), directing it upward (urdhvata through sushumna nadi). In the same way a serpent that is beaten with a stick takes the form of a stick [danda-hatah sarpo danda-akarah prajayate]…. so does Kundalini shakti becomes straight at once [rijvi-bhuta… sahasa]. Then the other two nadis (ida and pingala) become lifeless (because the prana has gone out of them). [Some have suggested that removal of prana from ida and pingala is metaphor for the cessation of duality, not actually death itself.]

Some Western scholars have contended that modern asana practice is not rooted in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (2nd c. B.C.E.), and that claiming so is a false, self-justifying, claim of provenance. I know the arguments well: only eleven asanas are described in Vyasa’s fifth century commentary on Patanjali (half of which are sitting asanas for meditation), and only twenty-six asanas, mudras, and bandhas are described by Svatmarama (“own-Self-takes delight”) in his 15th century text, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.[1] On the other hand, the Gheranda Samhita, a 17th c. work, describes an additional seven asanas — out of 8.4 million (84 lakhs) asanas![2]

T. Krishnamacharya in Paschimottanasana: Yoga Makaranda, 1934.

Another source text of the Iyengar method of yoga, the Yoga Korunta (14th c. C.E.; now unavailable), was memorized by B.K.S. Iyengar’s guru, T. Krishnamacharya when he studied in Tibet during the 1920’s with his guru, Rama Mohana Brahmacari.[3] It contains the vinyasa sequences that Guruji Iyengar taught from 1935 through the 1970’s and Pattabhi Jois taught until his death in 2009.[4] These are the asanas included in Iyengar’s seminal text, Light on Yoga, or Yoga Dipika in Sanskrit. Krishnamacharya based his approach primarily on the ashtanga yoga systems of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras and the Yoga Yajnavalkya (4th c. C.E.). The latter was a source for later texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which he also honored.[5]

As a dedicated pupil of B.K.S. Iyengar, I believe the provenance of asana is legitimized in three broad ways: First, whereas Western scholarship is a text-driven discipline, yoga practice has relied on the oral tradition to explicate on the few extant texts. Secondly, direct perception of the Self in yoga comes with experience and cannot be cast as “new” or “different.” Third, asana is a physical component of a spiritual practice.

Ashtanga Yoga & Hatha Yoga: Oral vs. Textual Tradition

Provenance — the source of what is being taught — primarily depends on who is teaching. Great masters have had generations of wisdom to back up their means and methods by developing within the guru-sishya (teacher-student) relationship, first as pupils and then as teachers.[6] This is how the oral tradition has survived, with very little ever recorded.[7] The lineage, although entwined in myth, extends back to the time of the sages. Even the texts that do exist have acceded to oral primacy: Hatha Yoga Pradipika cites that asana, pranayama, kriya (purification actions), and mudra (“seals” including Viparita Karani) should be “learned from the guru’s instructions” and “kept secret”:[8]

HYP I.14 One should practice yoga in the way instructed by his guru .
HYP II.1 The yogin, having perfected himself in the asanas, should practice pranayama, according to the instructions of his guru….
HYP III.7-9 These… [ten mudras] expounded by Adinatha… annihilate old age and death… [and] should be kept secret, like a box of precious gems.

According to the Shiva Samhita, “Only the knowledge imparted by a guru, through his lips, is powerful and useful; otherwise it becomes fruitless, weak and very painful.” It describes a guru as “father…, mother, and even God.”[9] But, as Prashant Iyengar has pointed out, “Guru is an institution, not a person. We worship the guru in Guruji Iyengar, not his personality.”[10] Tradition mandates that a sishya can have only one guru in his lifetime. Gurus, like Krishnamacharya, have “jealously guarded… spiritual knowledge… [unless] pupils were deserving enough.”[11]

I believe there are three reasons that the guru-sishya system has allowed yoga to thrive over the millennia :

Prerequisite qualification and commitment of the pupil that ensures responsible and accurate transmission of the oral tradition — why the guru only shares with “deserving” pupils.

A lengthy and intense mentoring process, similar to a professor fostering his doctoral candidates, that emphasizes proper technique, memorization, and correct interpretation. The guidance of a lifetime mentor lessens error or injury, and increases efficacy. For example, medical studies proving the efficacy of yoga have been conducted by highly-trained teachers who are often under the supervision of Guruji Iyengar himself, not an “Internet guru.”

Ethical authority of the guru that is neither corrupted by the attainment of supernormal powers, nor the need to profit from teaching by acquiring more pupils (gurus often have been employed householders).[12]

The guru-sishya system has traditionally been the primary means of preserving the yogic tradition. The widespread accessibility of yogic texts due to the Internet, that were only available from a few publishers in India just a generation ago, has skewed the perception of just how difficult it has been to find these texts in the past.[13] Two hundred years ago they were only available in manuscript form. Moreover, few yogins were literate: in 1800, just after the inception of Indian newspapers, only 3% of Indians were literate in their vernacular language, much less the literary language of the Sanskrit texts. In 1947, at Independence, still only 12% of Indians were literate.[14]

The texts were meant to be memorized and chanted by the students and then explained by the guru. Although the descriptions in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika are brief, they are not as terse as the Yoga Sutras. However, metaphors are often used, or only the results of practice cited. Details of how to practice — the essential actions and individualized instruction — exist only in the oral tradition, handed down from guru to sishya.[15]

Yoga: Creativity vs. Transformation of Consciousness

Accomplished yogins, says B.K.S. Iyengar, view purusha (spirit) as the source of all creativity. Asanas aren’t “inventions” because creativity in yoga does not arise out of an individual’s originality or cleverness:

“Only God creates — not you or me. [Insight] comes like a light, but not from thinking.”[16]

A tenet of Samkhya-Yoga school is “Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed; it only changes state.”[17] That’s why B.K.S. Iyengar contends that he practices yoga — not an “Iyengar method” or an “Iyengar style” of yoga:

“Principles cannot change. There is no new ‘creation,’ or new ‘style,’ or ‘method.’ When jnana [knowledge] comes, the intelligence is not limited by selfishness; otherwise it is a sign of a fluctuating mind.”[18]

The underlying principle of Samkhya philosophy that forms the basis of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga is that because of its innate purity, buddhi (intelligence), is able to perceive purusha as its source. But if that perception is tainted by ego-driven parigraha (possessiveness), it signifies a non-yogic, and unstable, mind. Thus, yoga is universal and cannot be “owned” or branded by “style.” To sum up, there is nothing “new” in yoga, even if it may be new to you or me. An example of this is when Guruji Iyengar criticized a young teacher for coming up with a “new” way of performing of Adho Mukha Svanasana incorrectly on the fingertips for wrist pain:

“It is a distortion of the Iyengar method. A [junior teacher] can never ‘create.’ Creativity only comes with maturity in rtambhara prajna [“truth-bearing wisdom” attained in samadhi].”[20]

The next example of “originality” — an adaptation by a teacher lacking sufficient training — can even lead to student injury. This himsa (harmfulness), however unintended, violates the teacher’s compact with the student that, like a mother, promotes safety of the pupil above and beyond the safety of the teacher. Students can be put in harm’s way when the guru-sishya system of mentoring is eliminated because junior teachers need to be mentored for many years. That way students taught by junior teachers benefit, if indirectly, from the experience of the guru.[21] Here Guruji Iyengar criticized a teacher for her modification of Supta Padangusthasana:

“Do not [teach] adaptations that have no bearing on the pose because it is [merely] physical yoga — which causes strains and pains.”[22]

Only when the aforementioned rtambhara prajna, “truth-bearing wisdom” or “mature wisdom accompanied by intense insight,” has been experienced — in other words, in samadhi — can the yoga cannon of the sages be modified. Not only is this type of knowledge “beyond the knowledge gleaned from books, testimony or inference” — it stops the very production of the chittavrttis (mental fluctuations) themselves, which is Patanjali’s definition of yoga:[23]

Raja Yoga vs. Hatha Yoga: Spiritual vs. Physical?

Why practice? Both East and West have acclaimed yoga as “good for health” and many have begun practice for that reason, as did Guruji Iyengar. Besides the more common belief in the West that asana is good for health, there is a less widely held Indian belief — that asana is part of a non-denominational yogic spiritual practice.[24] Both in Patanjali’s classical dualist yoga, and in the non-dualist philosophy that has come to dominate Indian thought, health and spirituality only differ by degree on the body-mind-intellect continuum.[25] Moreover, Indian thought considers every action to have long-term spiritual implications.

One of the facets of yoga that links both health and spirituality is the ethical precept of a-himsa (non-violence). What characterizes asana as “safe” — resulting in less “wear and tear” — is ahimsa; what defines yoga as “spiritual” also begins with ahimsa — acting with such integrity that it both prevents future suffering, and causes others to abandon hostility, according to Patanjali:

PYS II.34-35 …himsa [violence]… results in endless duhkha [pain] and ajnana [ignorance]. Pratipaksha bhavanam [cultivating the opposite behavior] ends duhkha and ajnana. When the yogin is firmly established in ahimsa [non-violence] there is abandonment of hostility in his presence.

Hatha Yoga, where asana, pranayama, mudra, and bandha are described, claims its theistic heritage from the outset. The very first verse of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika praises Lord Shiva, the first guru, who, in teaching his consort Parvati hatha yoga, passed on his spiritual knowledge:

HYP I.1 Salutation to Adinatha [Shiva] who taught [his consort Parvati] the vidya (knowledge) of hatha yoga, which, like a staircase, leads the aspirant to the high pinnacle of raja yoga.

Despite affirming this lineage in the next verse, Svatmarama rarely refers to Shiva again, except as a physiological metaphor, and as the guru who taught asana and mudra.[26] More significantly, he reiterates that practice of hatha yoga is “solely for the attainment of raja (royal) yoga,” a synonym for Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga, thus tying hatha yoga to a universal, non-denominational, spiritual practice:

This bond with raja yoga is reaffirmed at subsequent points in the text:

HYP I.67 The asanas, various kumbhakas [retentions in pranayama], and other divine karanas [means] of hatha yoga, should all be practiced until the fruit of raja yoga is obtained.

In the last set of verses it is reiterated with an additional metaphoric reference to overcoming death:

HYP 1V.103 All the methods of hatha are meant for gaining success in raja yoga. The person, who is well-established in the raja yoga, overcomes death.[27]

There are similarities between the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Like raja yoga, the fundamental objective of hatha yoga is “to transcend the egoic consciousness, and to realize the Self….” wrote Georg Feuerstein.[28] Direct perception of the Self is the result of body, mind, and breath purification in yoga. Svatmarama’s sloka (two-line verse) on asana borrows the term sthira [firm, stable] directly from Patanjali’s definition of asana:

According to Brahmananda’s 1880 C.E. commentary on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Jyotsna, asana explicitly stabilizes the mind, whereas Patanjali’s terse two-word definition of asana does not explicitly differentiate among body, mind, and intellect in bringing about vrtti nirodha (movement-cessation).[29] Brahmananda even quotes Patanjali’s obstacles, which Guruji Iyengar characterizes as “physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual:”[30]

BJ I.17 Asana [gives] sthairyam [firmness, stability]… because it kills the rajo-guna that causes fickleness [unsteadiness] of manas [mind]. By removing diseases, it facilitates concentration; for Patanjali says: [quotes PYS I.30: disease, inertia, doubt, carelessness, laziness, incontinence, mistaken notion, and backsliding due to pride cause the chitta vikshepas, distractions of the mind, and are the obstacles.] Asana removes the heaviness of body arising from the preponderance of tamas….

Or, as B.K.S. Iyengar has summarized Brahmananda’s commentary:

“Health is eradication of the diseases that cause the chitta vikshepas [mental distractions that divert one from the path of yoga].”[31]

Despite the spiritual dimension of asana practice, some have denigrated asana as solely “physical.” Even the great nineteenth-century non-dualist Swami Vivekananda held conflicting views about the validity of asana practice when it was not as popular as it is today. He outrightly dismissed asana, equating it with hatha yoga in his introduction to his popular 1896 publication, Raja Yoga, because the aim of hatha yoga is purportedly only

“physical strength… and not spiritual growth. Health [resulting in long life] is the one goal of the hatha yogi.”[32]

His rejection could have been influenced by legitimate contemporary ethical assumptions, as well as sectarianism.[33] Nonetheless, elsewhere in his same text, he conceded a body-mind connection:

“The mind is intimately connected with the body…. If the body is sick, the mind becomes sick also. If the body is healthy, the mind remains healthy and strong.”[34]

BKS Iyengar in Siddhasana: Light on Yoga, 1966

In light of this, it is hard to reconcile his dismissal of asana with his appreciation of how a healthy mind requires a healthy body. Moreover, if he could extol Shankaracharya’s recommendation of nadi (channel) purification through nadi sodhana pranayama,[35] it would be inconsistent to not then advocate nadi purification in asana, such as Siddhasana — which is specifically cited in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika:

HYP I.39 Out of the 84 asanas Siddhasana should always be practiced, because it cleanses the impurities of 72,000 nadis [nadinam mala-sodhanam].

Asana is also cited to benefit the nadis in a general sense:

HYP III.124 This middle [susumna] nadi becomes straight and firm by steady practice of asana, pranayama, and mudra of the yogin.

Vivekananda’s lack of advocacy is especially inconsistent because there is a photo of him meditating in Siddhasana, dated 1886, in his biography! Moreover, experience tells us that judicious practice of all the various types of asanas and pranayamas is necessary to afford sufficient mobility of the hips and stability of the spine to be able to sit erect and motionless in Swastikasana with a steady mind for an extended period of time.

Ironically, when Vivekananda commented specifically on Yoga Sutra II.46 that defines asana in Raja Yoga, he repeated the intent of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika I.17 — firmness and health:

“When you have succeeded controlling the body and keeping it firm, your practice [ed. italics] will be steady; but while you are disturbed by the body, your nerves become disturbed, and you cannot concentrate the mind.”[36]

There is no doubt that a firm body steadies meditation. Guruji Iyengar takes the same basic approach as Vivekananda, but is more specific in his analysis. In his interpretation of PYS II.46, applying “stable” to the mind as well as the body, he describes the intelligence as steadied, not the practice; steadiness in practice is only inferred. It refers back to the stabilization of chitta (consciousness) that Patanjali uses to define yoga, and Vyasa’s description of that happening chitta is freed of the gunas (qualities of nature).[37] Guruji Iyengar’s interpretation concurs with BJ I.17, which makes it clear that not only does asana stabilize the body, but also steadies the manas (mind) — because it “kills the rajo-guna (movement-quality) that causes fickleness of the manas (mind).”[38] It also affirms Vyasa’s commentary on PYS II.47, which cites perfection in asana to prevent angam-ejayatva (limb-shakiness) — an obstacle to samadhi. Although shakiness ostensibly refers to the body, Guruji Iyengar also applies it to mental instability — which includes depression.[39]

Patanjali, as does Svatmarama, begins yoga practice with the ethical precepts of yama and the disciplines of niyama.[41] According to B.K.S. Iyengar, the yamas, beginning with a-himsa (non-violence) spring from the intrinsic purity of one’s conscience. But chitta (consciousness) becomes tainted by contact with society.[42] As noted in the discussion about himsa (violence), when chitta has been tainted by violent thoughts and deeds , it causes endless pain and ignorance. To maintain and cultivate innate purity, the Yoga Sutras cite the yamas as “universal vows unconditioned by class, time, or place.”[43] When it comes to yama, hatha yoga, too, does not differentiate amongst “thought, word, and deed”[44] — and that applies to the practice of asana, pranayama, mudra, and bandha.

As a result, any emphasis on physicality alone that ignores the role of the mind is decidedly unholistic: it reflects a Western interpretation that ignores the precepts of yama and niyama that lead to the inner peace lying at the very heart and soul of yoga. Some Westerners have claimed that aggressive Western calisthenics were modified and incorporated into asana practice to “toughen up” passive Indians as part of the twentieth-century Indian independence movement.[45] The phrase “toughen up” itself conveys a duality that comes from a lack of awareness. It is impossible to “toughen up” your conscience. Besides, it is presumptuous to assume that political success depends mainly upon individual physical prowess. No less than Mahatma Gandhi himself, the father of Indian independence, based his mass movement on the first two yamas — ahimsa (non-violence) and satya (truthfulness).[46]

Within the concept of “alignment” in asana, B.K.S. Iyengar has taught the difficult-to-put-into-practice philosophy of samatvam (eveness of mind), prana (life-force), prajna (wisdom), as well as yama (ethics) and niyama (discipline). Here, alignment has been used to clarify the intelligence and foster ahimsa:

BKS Iyengar teaches how to purge the wrist of violence in Utthita Hasta Padasana: The Dalai Lama Speaks – Paths To Happiness. 11-20-2010

“Purging the mind [of aggression] begins by aligning the wrist in Utthita Hasta Padasana…. The left dorsal wrist is bulging, higher than her fingers… because of himsa, aggression, in the body…. Lacking sarira prajna [bodily understanding], she is only following the dictates of the body.[47] She is not using her body as an agent to clarify her intelligence. To remove the aggression, descend the left top wrist, lift the fingers and then stretch the arm and hand. That is a-himsa [non-violence].”[48]

The focus of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga has always been to destroy the impurities that obscure the highest state of awareness.[49] As part of that goal, the mastery of asana leads to the cessation of duality.[50] In the following demonstration, B.K.S. Iyengar has shown how to practice asana to bring about saucha (purity) and santosha (contentment), the first two niyamas:

BKS Iyengar adjusts left armpit chest in Trikonasana to bring purity to the right armpit chest: The Dalai Lama Speaks – Paths To Happiness. 11-20-2010

“The projection of the student’s left armpit chest in Utthita Hasta Padasana fostered saucha, purity, because it allowed the blood to flow — like ‘taking a bath.’ [By contrast, because the student’s right side of the chest faced the floor, the lack of blood flow was taken to be] a sign of a-saucha, impurity, because it remained ‘unbathed.’ [After Guruji Iyengar rotated the student’s right armpit chest forward and up] to bring saucha, the right chest achieved santosha, contentment, [and was then able to proclaim], ‘Now I am happy here,’ because the right chest, as well as the left, has been ‘bathed’ with oxygenated blood.”[51]

Similarly, focusing attention on a particular area of the body in asana practice is dharana, concentration; maintaining and spreading that awareness in an unbroken flow evolves into dhyana, meditation.[52] However, any non-holistic approach automatically conflates the step-by-step process of learning physical postures with an exclusive emphasis on physicality itself — as expressed in the maxim, “by the body for the body.” But physical practice is a beginning, not an end. Whereas we may view knowledge of the body as both sophisticated and subtle, yogins consider it gross when compared to knowledge of the mind. Even if we begin practicing a few asanas to keep us healthy when young, spirituality becomes increasingly more important as we become middle-aged adults who seek relief from suffering, or contemplate our own death. For example, while many pre-teen girls take gymnastic classes to develop strength and coordination, 50-year old women have different needs. That’s why we practice “by the body for the mind.”

It has been the life work of B.K.S. Iyengar to restore asana to its rightful place in yogic practice. He has challenged the notion that asana is only a physical preparation for meditation by demonstrating that right action in asana reveals the infinite within. It’s what Patanjali calls ananta samapattibhyam — the assumption of the eternal form when asana is mastered, the “vastness within” that is synonymous with the ability of purusha to abide in his sva-rupa (own form), the goal of yoga:[53]

PYS II.47 Perfection in asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless, and the ananta [infinite being within] samapattibhyam [is reached].

James Mallinson, “From Tapas to Hard Yoga: The History of the Asanas of Hatha Yoga,” Freer and Sackler Galleries: Yoga and Visual Culture: An Interdisciplinary Symposium, November 22, 2013: <www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_ZXBMpKXU&list=PLC8Yzyqd-urBN0GhecAovLvE1jh7PrNH-&index=8>

GS II.1 There are 84 hundred thousand asanas described by Shiva. The asanas are as many in number as there are number of species of living creatures in this universe. [Note 1 lakh = 100,000 in Indian numeracy.]

A.G. Mohan (tr.), Yoga Yajnavalkya, Svastha Yoga, 2013. Some Western scholars date Yoga Yajnavalkya much later. It emphasizes pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana, as well as nadis, vayus, and mahabhutas. An apparently different Sage Yajnavalkya (ca. 850 B.C.E.) also authored the oldest Upanisad, the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanisad (13th-6th c. B.C.E.), a discourse about Brahman. [Retrieved from Wikipedia 1-2014.]

[6] The word guru means “the one who removes darkness” of ignorance and false identification with body, mind and ego. See PYS II.5: Avidya [spiritual ignorance] is mistaking the transient for the permanent, the impure for the pure, pain for pleasure and the non-self for the Self (and vice versa).

[7] The spate of English translations of yogic texts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries probably had more to do with the newly acquired press and concurrent British interest in Indian philosophy than any contemporary authorship, as even late yogic texts predated printing by several hundred years. Printing was introduced to India by Christian missionaries in coastal areas starting in the 16th century: Goa (west) 1556; Cochin (south) 1579; Bombay (west) 1674; Tranquebar & Madras (east) 1712 & 1751; Calcutta (northeast) 1780 first newspaper. First English translations include Charles Wilkins: Bhagavad Gita (1785); Nobin Candra Paul: Treatise on Yoga Philosophy (1850); and James Ballantyne: The Aphorisms of the Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali, with Illustrative Extracts from the Commentary by Bhoja Raja (1852).

[8] This practitioner speculates that the need for secrecy prevented the corruption and dilution of the art of yoga. Although enthusiastic beginners often want to share what they have learned, it takes at least 10-15 years of practice and teaching to teach others both safely and effectively. It is comparable to the lengthy process a music student must go through to learn the fundamentals of music before applying them as a successful concert artist.

[12] Prashant S. Iyengar, Guru Purnima Address, 7-2-04. Author notes: “If the goal of a ‘professional’ yoga teacher is to expand clientele, it [becomes] a business, not a profession.”

[13] In 2002 our students were unable to find the Hatha Yoga Pradipika for purchase in the U.S.

[14] In 2011 74% of Indians were literate. Yet, one third of the world’s illiterates lived in India. [2005]

Country

Literacy

1500

India

02%

England

10%

1700

England

47%

1800

India

03%

England

52%

US

50%

1881

India

03%

US

80%

1947

India

12%

2003

US

97%

2011

India

74%

[15]Brahmananda Jyotsna I.14 The various standard books on yoga are… for gurus to use as guide-books to regulate their pupil’s training. In hatha yoga… it is absolutely necessary to have a guru, who has passed successfully through the course, who can see clearly through the system, and observe the effects of the various processes and modify them accordingly.

Geeta S. Iyengar, Asana 5-23-96 AM Class: Urdhva Dhanurasana. Author notes: “Guruji did not say, ‘Let me create.’ It came to him when he saw where people were suffering, where they had a problem. He says, ‘If this person complains, then I have to try.’ [Why] do you apply your method? Why don’t you respect what your guru has given you — ‘These are the poses which will bring recovery’? Just to show off that you can do something different? [Can’t you teach] our simple way, just say, ‘Do this, do this’?”

[21] The “junior” teachers at RIMYI — most of whom have taught for over 15 years — are often corrected in the middle of class by Guruji Iyengar or Geetaji. This level of supervision adds immeasurable depth to their teaching.

[24] As we have seen, Patanjali’s definition of yoga is the absence of movement in the consciousness. When that occurs, the yogin grasps that he is purusa, the Self, and “that’s all.” There is no further theological speculation.

[25] Richard King, Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial theory, India and ‘the mystic East,’ London: Routledge, 1999. Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. P. 135: The tenet of Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta, “All is Brahman (sarvam brahma asti),” has come to dominate both Indian thought in general and Hindu theology in particular due, in part, to Vivekananda’s persuasive advocacy at the end of the nineteenth century and its subsequent adoption by the swaraj [self-rule] independence movement of the twentieth century.

Vivekananda, “The Atman: Brooklyn 2-2-1896 Lecture,” The Yogas and Other Works, NY: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1953. 2nd ed. P. 310: However, there is a widespread acceptance of diversity within Hinduism, which includes dualist Hindu temple worship. This reflects what Vivekananda also said: “Most Indians are dualists,” believing man and God are separate.

[26] The metaphoric abode of Shiva is also the target for his rising consort Shakti [HYP III.111]: The seat of Shiva is between the eyebrows, and the mind becomes absorbed there. This condition (in which the mind is thus absorbed) is known as turya, and death has no access there. [HYP IV.48] Siva-sthanam is the Shiva-abode at the bhruvor-madhye (middle eyebrows) [BJ III.24] where the Rudra granthi (at the ajna chakra) is pierced by Shakti at the highest stage [HYP IV.76].

[27] B.K.S. Iyengar, Viparita Karani Q & A 9-29-05, Estes Park. Author transcription: “You cannot conquer death, but you need not suffer ill health, and your life may be prolonged. There is an inner meaning, not a surface meaning, that when life is prolonged, death is delayed.” B.K.S. Iyengar also compared the value of Viparita Karani in facing death to the divine eye that Krishna granted Arjuna [BG XI.8]: “The divine eye made Arjuna less nervous…. [It] strengthen[s] the nerves of the unconscious mind to enable it to remain calm to bear the vision of the light of the soul when it flashes.”

[33] Vivekananda’s objections may have reflected a perception of the body that preexist our current Western viewpoint, the need both to distinguish Vedanta from competing schools and to distinguish between religion and philosophy in the West, and his personal mission to establish a world religion.

Swami Vivekananda did favor psychologically-oriented asana over physically-oriented calisthenics. However, as a renunciant, he was probably influenced by Indian myths that attribute the greed for immortality to unethical and ignorant character flaws, similar to the greed for wealth in the West. There are also Hatha Yoga mudras that the Victorians thought sexually vulgar, such as Vajroli, that contemporary commentators have interpreted less literally, with greater nuance. (See also the subsequent discussion about yama and niyama.) This was very different from the environment in the U.S. where Puritan prohibitions against play had been gradually supplanted by the idea of exercise compatible with Christianity (thus the beginning of the YMCA); where immigrant German gymnastics and Swedish therapeutic exercise had been absorbed into American culture; and where leisure time had increased due to industrialization and urbanization. All these events had resulted in the demand for universal education (including physical education) that did not exist in colonial India — which was primarily provincial and agricultural. Although asana-as-exercise has value, how important could it have been to those working as subsistence agricultural laborers compared to those working in a factory or at a desk?

Secondly, as a non-dual Vedantin, Vivekananda dismissed the competing philosophical schools of Samkhya, Patanjali Yoga, and the Purva (“early”) Mimamsa (who emphasize Vedic ritual to attain merit) — all of whom are dualist, and therefore, reject the Vedantic precept that “All is Brahman.” Because all schools have flourished concurrently, it has always been in the best interest of each school to refute the others. Nevertheless, all Indian schools believe in an eternal moral order (called rta in the Rg Veda) that must be understood to overcome suffering. Ignorance of this reality is what causes the bondage of rebirth and its suffering. Vedanta and Mimamsa depend primarily on the authority of the Vedas to understand the nature of God’s existence, similar to Western religious thought. In contrast, Samkhya and Yoga, without denying Vedic authority, depend on primarily direct perception, as does Western philosophy. For example, Patanjali’s astanga yoga does this by uprooting our impulses, clarifying our thoughts, and refining our actions to prevent future suffering. Nevertheless, despite sectarian differences, the distinction between religion and philosophy is not discrete: Brahmananda’s commentary on the niyamas of hatha yoga quotes the 14th century Sandilya Upanishad, which cites Vedic ritual as well as Vedantic philosophy. His commentary on Ishvara-puja, “Lord-worship,” is illustrated by worship of Vishnu or Shiva. His interpretation of siddhanta-sravana, “sutras of a specific school – learning,” is the study of Vedanta, as opposed to Patanjali Yoga Sutras.]

Thirdly, the early nineteenth century Transcendentalists, influenced by Hinduism, endorsed Universalism, finding truths common to all religions. Universalism, in turn, influenced Vivekananda, who saw Advaita Vedanta as the logical world religion, to the exclusion of other schools. Contemporary Western “spirituality” reflects this Universalist view, and is now considered an alternative to the specific tenets of the Abrahamic faiths.

[35] Vivekananda, “Raja Yoga: The First Steps,” The Yogas and Other Works, NY: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1953. 2nd ed. [orig. 1896] P. 587 He cites Shankaracharya’s commentary in the Svetasvatara Upanisad 2.8-9, which is also similar to Bhagavad Gita 5.27-8.

VB I.2 When the veil of [tamas] is completely removed and the mind becomes completely sattvic [luminous], … that mind being influenced by a trace of rajas, the mind (inclines) towards dharma [duty], jnana [knowledge], vairagya [detachment], and aisvarya [sovereignty]. When the last vestige of rajas is entirely removed, the citta rests in itself, realizes the distinction between the buddhi [intellect] and purusa [spirit] and proceeds to dharma-mega, the samadhi of the highest wisdom.

[38] When manas [mind] is stable, it no longer seeks “objects of the senses” which need be presented to buddhi [intelligence]. Manas, buddhi, and ahamkara [ego], are three functions housed within the citta [consciousness].

Inclusion of yama and niyama in the HYP seems to contradict the tantric concept of inherent contentment that comes as a result of the control of prana in the body, as opposed to extrinsic restraint and discipline of yama and niyama. This practitioner finds the aspirational goals of yama and niyama helpful in overcoming obstacles.

[44]Brahmananda Jyotsna I.16. This practitioner believes that “thought, word, and deed” refers to yamas as universal vows that cannot be violated by oneself, by another as an agent of oneself, or even condoned, exactly as in PYS II.34.

[45] Bhishnu Ghosh, Swami Yogananda’s younger brother, although primarily interested in wrestling and physical culture, helped Swami Shivananda design an asana program for his school. Ghosh himself thought yama and niyama were too difficult to follow for the common man. Bikram Choudhury was a student of Ghosh.

[46] Although the British described the Bengalis as weak and passive compared to their muscular Victorian ideal, after the failed 1857 Revolt they recruited only loyal Sikhs for their army, excluding Hindus and Muslims, and discouraged indigenous martial sports in an effort to demilitarize Indian civilians and keep them passive. It did not work. Starting in 1890 the government schools then tried to depoliticize the growing nationalist movement, but it culminated in the bomb-making, political banditry, and assassination of British officials during the 1905-08 Swadeshi movement.

Vivekananda preached abhiti, fearlessness, in yoga, which later was used by Gandhi as a goal for his physical training to achieve non-violent resistance — as opposed to the violent resistance of the militaristic revolutionaries. Gandhi found that the true strength of “soul-force” in ahimsa was indispensable for attaining self-rule. His three campaigns, the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920, the Salt March of 1930, and the Quit India Campaign of 1942, depended on satya-graha — the British colonizers “grasping-the-truth” that they were unwittingly obstructing what was best for both India and Great Britain. These principles were adopted a generation later by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

Richard King, Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial theory, India and ‘the mystic East,’ 1999. p. 134: Recently, scholars have recast Gandhi’s role in terms of gender politics: Gandhi “inverted colonial presuppositions about Bengali effeminancy, otherworldly spirituality, and the passivity of the ascetic ethics of ahimsa.” His non-violent demonstrations “feminized the manly spirituality of Vedanta” to mobilize women, using the spinning wheel as a symbol of self-rule and passive satya-graha.

[52] B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the YogaSutras of Patanjali, HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1993. P. 150. Commentary on PYS II.46 cites PYS III.1-2: Fixing the consciousness on one point or region is dharana [concentration]. The uninterrupted flow of attention directed towards the same point or region is dhyana [meditation].

[53] PYS I.3 Then the drasta [Seer] dwells in his svarupe [own state].

B.K.S. Iyengar, Depression Q & A 9-29-05, Estes Park. +59:30 Author transcription: “[In Brick Supported Savasana has] his [chest] gone to vastness? Is his chest fully opened? When the chest is opened… the lungs empty for the breath to occupy more space, without asking him to do deep breathing.”

Elise Miller, “B.K.S. Iyengar Talks About the Sutras,” Yoga Journal #57, July-August, 1984. P.31: “[Samadhi] comes to each and every one of us in a split second. Those who are intelligent can catch it.”

Introduction to Samkhya Metaphysics

India is a land of diverse opinions and divergent viewpoints. Its culture has been described as a “salad bowl” (as opposed to our “melting pot”) containing many ingredients that remain uniquely distinct within the whole. At the core of this diversity are the six different schools of Indian philosophy. One of its oldest schools, Samkhya,[1] has furnished the metaphysical framework for Patanjali’s school of classical Yoga; influenced the varied schools of Vedanta, as well as Mimamsa — along with its regional theologies of Saivism and Vaisnavism; informed Ayurvedic medical practice; and even stimulated a Buddhist reaction to Hinduism.[2] However, even within Samkhya there have been differing interpretations.

The Bhagavad Gita defined the difference between Samkhya and Yoga: Samkhya is jnana-yoga, the yoga of knowledge. Yoga itself is referred to as karma-yoga, the yoga of action.[3] Although the paths may differ, both lead to the same enlightenment:[4]

BG V.4 Children, not the wise, speak of Samkhya and the path of action as distinct. He who truly lives in one, gains the fruits of both.

Although there are a couple of schools of Indian thought that do not accept Samkhya’s metaphysics, Yoga’s method of direct perception through dhyana (meditation) has always been, and still is, honored and cherished throughout India.

Patanjali’s Yoga Evolution of Prakrti — The Road Map of Consciousness

Samkhya philosophy enumerates 23 categories of matter that evolve from mula-prakrti (primordial matter) — from the most subtle aspects of the mind, to the organs, and, finally, to the most gross basic elements. Using these categories as a “road map,” yoga practice inverts the order of evolution, leading one from the most gross to most subtle aspects of consciousness. [Click on the YogaEvolution of Prakrti chart to the left to enlarge it.]

Samkhya philosophy is dualistic: Evolution is predicated upon purusa (the individuated soul, or Self) coming into contact with prakrti (unevolved matter). Purusa, although “ever-wise, ever-pure, and ever-free,” is solely a “witness,” and is unable to act on his own.[5]Prakrti, on the other hand, is not the Self, and thus requires purusa for it to become manifested.

Isvarakrisna, in his Samkhya Karika, described purusa as “lame” and prakrti as “blind.” They depend on each other — ultimately for the “sake of purusa”[6] to both see mula-prakrti (“root of – prakrti”) and discover his own true nature.

Vyutthana Citta

Although not all schools of yoga have accepted the aim of isolating purusa as the way to discover one’s true nature,[7] it has been the primary purpose of Patanjali’s “classical” Yoga over the last couple of millennia. In India, understanding one’s own nature has always been the key to stilling the mind and relieving distress. Our first inquiry, “What is the cause of my stress?” leads us to then ask, “Who suffers?” Because Patanjali has indicted the ignorance of the vacillating mind, the final question arises, “Who am I — Self (purusa) or non-Self (prakrti)?” Yoga practice then gradually reveals, by the process of elimination, what we are not, “Neti, neti! (Not that, not that!) — until only purusa remains.”[8]

Yoga practice depends on two principles: abhyasa, which is the discipline of stilling the mind, and vairagya, the detachment from desire.[9]

I feel that abhyasa and vairagya are analogous to prakrti and purusa: Abhyasa corresponds to prakrti, which acts for the benefit of purusa, which is “lame.” Vairagya adopts the impassive witnessing and detached indifference of purusa, which observes as the Seer. Both abhyasa and vairagya must act in concert for purusa to illuminate every part of the body and mind, which brings wisdom, purity, and freedom.

Practically speaking, when we lack detachment, fear limits us; it then becomes impossible to observe, and hence evaluate, the results of our actions. We’ll address this more fully in the discussion of the evolutes.

Synonyms for universal and individuated soul in yoga.

Purusa may be described as a catalyst, rather than a “creator.”[10] In that sense, one may compare prakrti to an actor inspired to perform well in a dramatic role only if being watched by an audience, purusa. In turn, when the audience (purusa) identifies with the actor (prakrti), the actor becomes a “projection” of the audience.

Patanjali cites the misidentification of purusa with prakrti as the cause of suffering.[11] In our drama analogy, it is as if an audience member (purusa) becomes a participant, and feels what the character (prakrti) experiences, in the play. However, this conjunction also provides an opportunity for purusa to understand his own true nature and to become “liberated.” Thus Patanjali states the purpose of existence:

PYS II.23 The conjunction of the Seer with the seen is for the Seer to discover his sva-rupa (“Self-form;” own true nature).

Nirodha citta

Liberation through realization of one’s svarupa (own nature) corresponds to the conclusion of the play in our drama analogy, wherein the audience (i.e. purusa) experiences the same “liberation.” Having been engrossed in the play, each member of the audience has experienced the drama vicariously in order to learn something about himself even though he never actually acted in the play. But the subject of the play is of secondary importance. Each audience member, like purusa, will most importantly realize that he was never actually more than a witness, unbound by the drama occurring onstage.

Sat-karya-vada

The underlying concept of the Samkhya-Yoga school of thought is that change is temporary even though there is a permanent underlying state, prakrti (matter). It’s the equivalent of our contemporary notion, “Nothing is created; nothing is destroyed. It only changes state.” That’s why prakrti becomes manifested. Only its appearance is modified.

Sat-karya-vada posits that the potential effect (karya) lies inherent, or preexistent (sat), in the cause.[12] For example, a clay pot is “caused” by the clay, the effect being the “pot.” The clay itself only holds the potential effect of becoming a pot. It could also become a tea cup, a piece of jewelry, or just remain in the earth. But when the potter, the agent of action, molds the clay into a pot, it becomes more “particularized,” while its “cause,” the clay, remains underground. The pot is the final product or effect.[13] The terms “particularized” and “final product” are translations of visesa, a specific Sanskrit term used by Patanjali to denote the end stage of evolution that will be discussed in Stages of Evolution of Prakrti.

In Samkhya every possible effect pre-exists in its underlying cause, prakrti. The final form of a clay pot is comprised of the mahabhutas (five elements) — it is mostly earth, with a lot of water, and not much fire, air, or space. Similarly, one’s body is also comprised of the mahabhutas stemming from the tanmatras (subtle elements), which emerged from the ahamkara (ego). Denser bones are more earthen, soft tissue more fluid, nerves more fiery, and lungs more airy. Joints and organs require space and alignment to function correctly.[14]

In Yoga, all the various body functions are, likewise, derived from the mind:

Evolution: Organ / ElementInvolution: Effect is absorbed into its

Preexists in its source…Cause…

mahabhutas (five elements)

tanmatras (subtle elements)

jnanendriyas (five organs of sense)

karmendriyas (five organs of action)

manas (mind)

manas

ahamkara (ego)

tanmatras

ahamkara (ego)

ahamkara

buddhi (intellect)

The involution of these cascading levels of preexistence, from gross to subtle, may be retraced by reading the YogaEvolution of Prakrti chart in the inverted order, from bottom to top.

These relationships between the mind, organs, and elements are key to understanding how to practice yoga: When the mind turns inward, the intelligence of the buddhi is able to flow freely in the limbs and trunk,[15] It’s almost as if the saying, “Put your mind in your… back thigh,” is redundant; the mind is the source of the thigh!

Samkhya’s sat-karya-vada is, by no means, universally accepted: Other schools of Indian thought reject a single underlying substrate, like prakrti, and rely on a select number of discrete causes. Buddhism rejects any underlying substrate at all.[16] Advaita Vedanta posits that change itself is illusory and not even “real” — like the mistaken perception that a rope is actually a snake.[17]

Guna-parinama

Substituting consciousness for the clay pot, Patanjali attributes the transformation of consciousness to dharma – laksana – avastha parinama (potential state – character – most-refined state).[18] This constant change in parinama (state) reflects the never-ending change of the gunas — sattva, rajas, and tamas (intelligibility, activity, stasis). In Samkhya the elements, organs, and mind are all guna-parinama-visesa, specific modifications, or transformations, of the gunas.[19] The thesis that the gunas are always in flux obscures their permanence; they are neither born, nor die.

Briefly, the concept of the gunas is, arguably, the most influential contribution of Samkhya to Indian philosophy. The gunas are like strands of multicolored rope that, when woven together, form the “cord” of prakrti, matter, that tethers purusa to the body.[20] The Bhagavad Gita states that the Soul (Brahman) is bound to the body by sattvic happiness and knowledge (jnana); by the rajasic fruits of work (karma); and by tamasic ignorance, laziness, and excessive sleep.[21] The Samkhya Karika uses another analogy: the gunas function for the sake of purusa, “like a lamp” — the wick, oil, and flame jointly producing light.[22]

The gunas simultaneously convey two levels of meaning: Sattva is both the experience of pleasure and goodness, as well as the illumination that triggers the evolution of prakrti. Similarly, rajas is pain and passion, as well as activation; tamas is indifference and dullness, as well as stasis.[23]

In any transformation, dharma is the characteristic, or potential state, as in the clay analogy. Laksana is the temporal state, quality, or refinement — like forming the lump of clay into a pot on the potter’s wheel. In the avastha,final state, the clay pot is fully refined. But here is where the clay pot analogy loses its usefulness and becomes confusing: although the pot may be very beautiful and functional, it still remains a gross, inanimate object.[24]

In contrast, yoga practice begins here, by refining the gross form of the body, which leads to increasing subtlety. As we say in Iyengar yoga, “By the body, for the mind” — which signifies turning inward, or “involution” as the purpose of practice.[25] The only way to reclaim the pot analogy is to cite its dissolution as the end of involution:

When I was a young man, after drinking chai tea at the Indian train station from a crude clay cup, the cup was meant to be then thrown on the ground, where it would be crushed, to become, once again, clay dust.

Similarly, upon dissolution of the buddhi into mula-prakrti,[26] the gunas return to their latent inactive state. Unfortunately, however, the clay analogy does not address the interstitial stages of involution. That, too, will be subsequently addressed in Stages of Evolution of Prakrti.

Whereas the outgoing mind seeks the excitement of rajas, the body inclines towards tamas, stasis. Yoga practice uses two tools to tame rajas and reinvigorate tamas: prana (life force) and prajna (awareness).[27]Prana and prajna sensitize and purify prakrti, and infuse it with the intelligence of the buddhi, which is naturally more sattvic.[28] In the avastha,final, state, the fully refined body and mind become completely sattvic.[29] This is the reverse path — involution, from effect back towards cause, and from gross to subtle.

If the effect is back pain, we must retrace our steps from effect to cause to discern what actions caused it. This will reveal how an imbalance, or the lack of leg, arm, or trunk support caused pain. Once the incorrect action is recognized, it may be altered or refined to change the effect, and relieve suffering. Then sattvic clarity and tranquility are restored.

Stages of Evolution of Prakrti

Yoga Evolution of Prakrti

Patanjali describes prakrti evolving in four stages, and the last stage, visesa, is the most perceptible to us. Vyasa’s lengthy commentary on the following sutra explains these four stages in terms of sat-karya-vada and guna-parinama. The order of the sutra conveys involution, from the fourth stage to the first:

Stage I is alinga;(undifferentiated, without “mark”), Patanjali’s synonym for the eternal primordial state of prakrti. Samkhya calls it mula-prakrti (“root of” – prakrti). It is avisesa (non-particularized). Although the three gunas exist, mula-prakrti is absolutely stable because there is no movement or action. Patanjali’s synonyms for the gunas, prakasa (brilliance), kriya (action), sthiti (stability), remain in a balanced state;.[30]Mula-prakrti may only be inferred by its effect, mahat, which is produced in Stage II.[31]

Stage II is linga-matra;(differentiated “with a mark only”)[32]: The existence of mahat, the universal intelligence, is revealed when first rajas begins to vibrate, then sattva, and finally, tamas. Mahat is “the great one” that is the germ of the vast universe. Mahat is also the source of prana.[33] Because it is a-visesa, non-distinguishable, Geeta S. Iyengar compared it to when a woman is pregnant but not “showing.”[34] In Yoga, which is not as symmetrically categorized as Samkhya, the buddhi (individuated intelligence) is a part of citta that evolves from mahat; Samkhya makes no such distinction between the universal and individuated intelligence.

Stage III is avisesa(non-specific or non-particularized), which is both a product of and a producer of evolutes. It is comprised of the primarily sattvicahamkara (“I-maker;” ego) and the tamasictanmatras(subtle elements). In Samkhya, ahamkara pulls its sattvic intelligence from mahat.[35]

Samkhya Evolution of Prakrti

Stage IV is visesa(distinguishable or particularized), which doesn’t produce any further evolutes. It is comprised of sattvicmanas (mind), the sattvicjnanendriyas; (“organs of sense”), the sattvickarmendriyas; (“organs of action”), and the tamasicmahabhutas (“five great elements”) — the final sixteen products of prakrti.[36] The jnanendriyas; and karmendriyas refer to the functions of the organs. The concrete structure of a human being — the organs, muscles, and bones — are comprised of the mahabhutas.[37] Because the mahabhutas are primarily tamasic material elements, they are incapable of reflecting intelligence. Thus they are labeled insentient matter.

Let’s apply the evolution of prakrti to the practice asana:

Tadasana corresponds to the avisesa, universal, mahat, “the great one” from which springs the “entire universe” of asana. Because “the effect lies inherent in the cause” according to sat-karya-vada, every other asana exists within this Tadasana. There are a multitude of visesa, particularized, asanas, and Tadasana can teach something important about each one of them.

Although the lift of the back thigh is avisesa, barely “distinguishable” in Tadasana, it is visesa, very “distinguishable” in Uttanasana. Because every pose exists in a subtle form in Tadasana (in this analogy), Uttanasana reveals the smallest amount of rajas beginning to “vibrate” in the Tadasana back thigh. Uttanasana has left its samskara, its mark.

Similarly, the balancing of Vrksasana lies inherent in Tadasana:

Within Tadasana there is a subtle fear of falling. Although we fail to remain entirely stable on our two legs, it is avisesa, not very “distinguishable.” However, balancing on the middle of the heel in Vrksasana is visesa, very “distinguishable.” The subtle fear of falling is a sign of ahamkara, the ego that fears for its very own preservation.

Evolutes of Citta

Patanjali’s term citta (what we informally refer to as “mind,” or what B.K.S. Iyengar translates as “consciousness”[38]), is like a “fluid enveloping”[39] three interactive functions: buddhi (intellect), ahamkara (ego), and manas (mind). In Samkhya they respectively function as “determination,” “self-awareness,” and “explication.”[40] In addition, citta is “more subtle” than its contents.[41]Samkhya differs; it treats each as a distinct metaphysical layer: ahamkara evolves from the more subtle buddhi, and manas evolves from the more subtle ahamkara.[42]

Yoga Evolution of Prakrti

Therefore, in my YogaEvolution of Prakrti chart I have given pride of place to citta as a “container” of buddhi, ahamkara, and manas. My primary reason is to remain loyal to its categorization according to Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar.[43] I feel that it also addresses a significant issue brought up by Guruji Iyengar that is ignored by Samkhya: citta is the microcosmic counterpart that corresponds to the macrocosmic mahat.[44] However, once one accepts the concept of an integrated citta of these three functions, one forsakes the tidy categorization of Samkhya: buddhi as linga-matra, ahamkara as a-visesa, and manas as a visesa are all of three entirely different stages of evolution. This will subsequently be discussed as part of Samkhya’s counterpart — antahkarana, conscience. I await further clarification of this.

1. The first and most subtle evolute of prakrti is the sattvic buddhi, the intelligence. Buddhi (√budh = to be aware of) is characterized by the functions of judgment, discrimination, ascertainment, and will. It is lucid and tranquil. The function of buddhi is “certainty leading to action,” adhyavasaya.[45] It is the source of our sattvicbhavas (“fundamental strivings”) of dharma jnana viraga aisvarya (virtue, knowledge, non-attachment, sovereignty).[46] The negation of these are the tamasicbhavas that lead the buddhi to engage in worldly pursuits. Buddhi lacks the self-awareness of its ahamkara evolute.[47]

2. The second evolute of prakrti, ahamkara (aham + kara: I + maker),[48] evolves from the buddhi. Because Samkhya does not distinguish between mahat and buddhi, universal and individuated consciousness, it asserts that ahamkara evolves from mahat, as opposed to the buddhi function contained within citta.[49]

Samkhya’s ahamkara approximates Patanjali’s asmita, characterized by the functions of self-awareness and self-identity, but there are some important distinctions. Asmita is more subtle than its product, ahamkara. Edwin Bryant describes ahamkara as “the cognitive aspect that processes and appropriates external reality from the perspective of the individuated self, or ego — through the notion of ‘I’ or ‘mine.’” It distinguishes between the subject and object, knower and known.[50

Nirodha citta

If the outward-facing ahamkara binds its manas evolute and the organs in Samkhya, then the inward-facing asmita prevails as the inner face of the mahat that reflects the light of purusa in Yoga. Yoga considers it the site of the first false conjunction of purusa and prakrti, Self and non-Self.[51]Asmita is the false sense of “I-am-ness,” the assumption that the reflection itself of purusa in the mirror of mahat (or buddhi, depending on the commentator) is actually the Self.[52] Despite this misperception, B.K.S. Iyengar has described asmita as the “unsullied state of ‘I-consciousness’” that is “the innermost state of being, nearest to [purusa].”[53]

As B.K.S. Iyengar has pointed out, the interface between asmita, “I-ness,” and “what is not me” is the body. Thus, there is an inherent obligation to care for the body since one cannot live without it. Moreover, each body necessitates its own awareness: the pleasure and pain, memory, desires, and experiences collected by the manas and organs are accumulated by, and give shape to, ahamkara.[54]

Ahamkara directs one’s endeavors either towards the spiritual pursuit of purusa, or towards misidentification with the external world of prakrti. When misidentified with the external world, ahamkara becomes proud and arrogant. Over time this misidentification even extends to ahamkara itself: one begins to perceive ahamkara, the small-s self, for the true, capital-s, Self. Yoga practice reverses this:

“… when ego is quiescent, [citta] senses the reality of the Soul [purusa], and the light of the Soul expresses itself through the translucent [citta].”[55]

Yoga practitioners are beset with a paradox — practice uncovers suffering that seems to relieve future pain. Recognition of ahamkara’s arrogance and fear will help relieve the aversion to pain. It’s a three-step process:

a. Although we are hardwired to instinctively seek pleasure and avoid pain, merely avoiding painful experiences prevents learning. The challenge of yoga practice is converting ahamkara into an asset that helps us bear pain. But forbearance alone is only a beginning, not an end.

b. In order to learn from pain, we must relax “any unnecessary tension” — especially in the jaw, diaphragm, and eyes. This relaxation response arises from the buddhi. Else, how can we resolve the ongoing argument within: When my rajasic mind urges, “Yes!” and my tamasic body resists, “No,” who wins?”

c. Buddhi allows us to discriminate. Using ahamkara’s collection of memories and experience, as well as the senses, organs and elements, we observe, “If I stamp my heels down in Uttanasana like I did in Tadasana, and lift up my leg muscles, my hamstrings hurt me less.”

As a result of the leg kriya, action, to “ground” the heels, corresponding to the earth element, ego immediately feels less threatened by what Iyengar yoga terms “the fear complex.”[56] Then ahamkara, unconstrained by the fears of the small-s self, becomes quiet. The lack of fear frees us to access the intelligence of the buddhi. Awareness, prajna, and its cohort prana, are then able to freely flow in the hamstrings and elsewhere.[57]

When we are no longer subject to ahamkara’s fear, we feel calm and unburdened. Following the dictates of the buddhi, which is only reflecting the light of the capital-s Self, we feel reassured that we are “doing the right thing.”

3. The third evolute of prakrti is manas (mind), the sattvic evolute of ahamkara. Manas is the seat of the emotions, likes and dislikes, and information. It receives, categorizes, and transmits information to and from the jnanendriyas (five sense organs) and karmendriyas (five organs of action) — through which we interact with the external world — and the buddhi.

Samkhya Evolution of Prakrti

Yoga categorizes manas as a visesa. Similarly, Samkhya also describes it evolving from ahamkara, along with the senses, organs, and subtle elements. But there is more than one way to categorize manas, and it’s categorization is more ambiguous than first appears: Samkhya also groups manas collectively with buddhi and ahamkara (it’s source) as the antahkarana (“internal organ”).[58] This suggests that the “vertical” separation of manas and ahamkara, as well as buddhi and ahamkara, is less distinct than at first glance, and that Samkhya’s threefold antahkarana is the equivalent of Yoga’s citta.[59]

The characterization of manas as both part of the Samkhya antahkarana, and the external organs supports the thesis of B.K.S. Iyengar that describes manas as serving a dual role in Yoga: When manas, drawn by the jnanendriyas to engage with worldly objects, becomes entangled with the senses, it acts as the external mind, or eleventh sense. When the manas is disciplined in yoga — connected with the citta in samyoga — it integrates (samyama) with the internal organs (buddhi, citta, and ahamkara), and is transformed into the internal mind.[60]

The tendency of manas to be outgoing manifests in various ways, such as extroverted student behavior in class, or an excessive need for validation. It can also happen internally when the mind gets caught up in, and moves with, the motion: grounding the frontal heels in Tadasana is forgotten when raising the arms up in Urdhva Hastasana.

Antahkarana as Conscience

The term antahkarana, as used in Yoga, often has a more subtle and important meaning than merely signifying Samkhya’s threefold grouping of buddhi, ahamkara and manas. Antahkarana is conscience. B.K.S. Iyengar describes it:

“Conscience is the source of [citta], intelligence [buddhi], and mind [manas]… and ego [ahamkara].[62]

In Light on Life, B.K.S. Iyengar has pinned antahkarana to a location to clarify its function. Antahkarana is “an independent arbiter, the witness of the witness.” As the lens [i.e. the inner face of buddhi] that faces purusa, it is less likely to be tainted than the outward-facing lens, which is in contact with the senses.[63] Because “conscience (antahkarana)… dwells next to the soul, [it] perceives the world as One, and not as a battle for survival.”[64] Conscience is uncompromising. When conscience is pricked,

“conscience tells us to do the harder thing, because it is always pulling us towards unity, towards wholeness…. When conscience is flawless, it “is the voice of our soul.”[65]

Manas and the Visesas

Because B.K.S. Iyengar has accepted manas grouped with the other aspects of the citta, he has consequently shown both the karmendriyas and jnanendriyas evolving from manas rather than ahamkara.[66]

The five jnanendriyas (jnana = knowledge + indriya = organ; the organs of sense perception) include the ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose. The karmendriyas (karma = action + indriya = organ; organs of action) consist of the organs of speech, arms, legs, excretion, and reproduction. As stated previously, these signify the functions of the organs, and not the actual organs themselves. In Iyengar yoga, we extend the definition of karmendriyas to include the muscles and bones, with the skin as the corresponding organ of perception.

Manas must coordinate the karmendriyas and jnanendriyas in asana to establish equipoise.

A common mistake in Trikonasana is to take the head forward and allow the eyes to lead the pose. If the eyes are seduced by their objects, it leads manas astray. When the legs have abdicated their supporting role as karmendriyas, the support function devolves to the eyes, or even the tongue, which are entirely unsuited to perform the task because they are jnanendriyas (sense organs). As a result, if the student dutifully “takes the head back” as instructed without the appropriate use of the legs, she falls backwards.

Here’s another example of the necessity of coordinating the senses and organs in asana:

If you try to first lift the head towards the ceiling when pushing up into Urdhva Dhanurasana, lifting the pelvis becomes almost impossible — a common mistake in the beginning. This is “leading with the senses.” When the head follows the eyes and the clenched jaw, it robs the arms and legs of strength, and ego impedes buddhi’s power of discrimination.

Ahamkara & the Elements

Ahamkara produces the tanmatras (five “subtle elements” — sound, touch, form, taste, smell) which subsequently “solidify” to produce the mahabhutas (five “great elements” — space, air, fire, water, earth that comprise the objective external world).[67] For example, the first tanmatra, sound, produces the first mahabhuta, space, which, in turn, is perceived by the first jnanendriya, the ear. Reading horizontally across the bottom of the YogaEvolution of Prakrti chart reveals these correspondences. Similarly, the first two tanmatras, sound and touch, produce the second mahabhuta, air, which is perceived by the second jnanendriya, the skin, and so on….

The texts show three different ways to chart the tanmatras:

1. In the YogaEvolution of Prakrti chart I have shown the tanmatras evolving from ahamkara. This is in accordance with Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrisna XXV and Vyasa’s Bhasya on PYS I.45.[68]

3. In the SamkhyaEvolution of Prakrti, following the commonly accepted scheme, I have shown the tanmatras evolving from ahamkara, but parallel with the emergence of manas, the five senses, and the five organs.

Because Samkhya is a composite system, this is one of its inexplicable anomalies. Like manas, Larson has described the tanmatras as “ a bridge between the internal and the external, or between the individual and the world; they come into contact with, and generate, the external world.”[69] As a cause of the external world, it seems logical that the tanmatras would qualify more as avisesas than visesas (final products).[70] I assume that’s why Vyasa categorized tanmatra as avisesa, and mahabhuta as visesa. As with the anomaly of how to categorize the collective antahkarana, I await further clarification.

Epilogue

This article is dedicated to my family. To my wife, Linda, who has contributed to my understanding of these complex issues by enthusiastically discussing it with me every day for the last couple of months. To my daughter, Sara, may it help you navigate not only the rigors of yoga, but also the challenges of life. And to our youngest child, Aaron, I know that you have absorbed the talk about yoga around the dinner table because of how much you value ethical principles.

I have tackled this subject for several reasons.

First, while sitting with my daughter at RIMYI during a Guru Purnima address, I tried to convey to her with brief intermittent comments how Guruji’s address adhered to a rhetorical sequence. Following a statement of purpose, he then usually starts his explanation by citing the evolutes of prakrti from PYS II.18-19, which are explained in detail by Vyasa’s commentary — which itself is based on the Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrisna. I subsequently realized that my understanding of evolution was based on paraphrases of the commentaries, but not upon any close reading of the commentary itself. I wanted to find out what the original commentary actually said to help fill in the gaps of my understanding.

Secondly, to establish authenticity, I reviewed Vyasa’s commentary word-by-word for sutras II.17-23 using translations of Hariharananda and Swami Veda Bharati. However, because they are of a different lineages, I had to adjust their interpretations to remain loyal to Guruji Iyengar’s point of view.

Unavoidably, the scope of this article grew over time in response to student questions. Not only do Samkhya and Yoga interpret the sequence of evolution a little differently, there are variations within each. Also, fundamental concepts — like “yoga as union” — that reflect the monistic viewpoint of Vedanta needed to be explained both within their own context as well as in comparison to Yoga. Nevertheless, in order to maintain the flow of the article, these differences are only briefly explained in the footnotes.

Third, only upon close examination did I begin to understand in more depth how Guruji distinguishes between such English translations as “self” and “Self.” Rather than contribute to the confusion — especially when a capital letter may be omitted in a transcript — I have chosen to rely on the original Sanskrit terms — ahamkara and purusa — which convey completely different categories of existence.

It is my hope that the Isvara& Purusa and Yoga Evolution of Prakrti charts will help clarify some of the South Asian concepts, such as manifestation, and macro-microcosm relationships. Regrettably, graphic charts suffer the same reductionist limitations as analogies because words and thoughts cannot always accurately portray experiences. In order to sufficiently simplify these charts, I have had to gloss over some of the differences that have been explained in the text and footnotes. My approach has been to avoid emphasizing these differences that, while certainly important to scholars, are not a priority for yoga practitioners.

I began practicing yoga at age twenty-nine to become more healthy; I persevered because its breadth and depth offered more than just physical health. My practice has been richly rewarding, and continues to become increasingly so. May this short summary of the Samkhya-Yoga map of consciousness deepen your practice.

With gratitude for the teachings of Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar and for the interest of my students in sharing this path of yoga —

Samkhya philosophy derives its name from the term pra–sankhyana, “discrimination.” Patanjali refers to this as vivekakhyati, or the wisdom that comes from dharma mega samadhi, the “raincloud of virtue” cited in PYS IV.29.

[2] Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary with Insights from the Traditional Commentators, 2009. P. xxvi

Bryant has cited Gerald Larson’s proposition that Yoga is a merger of both Samkhya and the Abhidharma school of Buddhism. [p. 508] In this vein, refer to B.K.S. Iyengar & The Dalai Lama: Paths to Happiness, timeswellness: Lecture Demo 11-20-10 PM, New Delhi [YouTube video].

[3] BG III.3 In the beginning (of creation) I proclaimed a twofold path of devotion in this world: jnana yoga for (followers of) of Samkhya and karma yoga for the yogins.

[4] BG V.2 Both renunciation and the Yoga of action lead to freedom: of these, the Yoga of action is superior to the (mere) renunciation of action (unaccompanied by knowledge).

[5]IsvarakrisnaSamkhya Karika XIX Because purusa is the opposite (of the unmanifest)… [and] is a witness, isolated (kaivalya), indifferent, Seer (drasta), and inactive.

for the sake of purusa: translation of purusa-artha as in ISK XXXI. It is a deeper meaning than the mundane interpretation of “aims of life” that are dharma-artha-kama-moksa (duty-wealth-pleasure-liberation).

[7] Until the recent resurgence in the popularity of Patanjali’s astanga yoga in the West, Vedanta has reigned as the most popular school of Indian thought for a millennium. Vedanta is based on the Upanisads (1000-600 B.C.E.), the philosophical portions of the ancient Vedas. Sankara’s (d. 820 C.E.) non-dualistic advaita Vedanta emphasizes the union of jivatma and paramatma (the individuated soul and the universal soul). (Having always been considered united, their separation is regarded as “unreal.”) In the West, this concept of union as the goal of Vedanta has been often confused with the isolation of purusa as the goal of Yoga. But union isn’t even the goal of all Vedantists: A competing school of dualistic dvaitaVedanta, founded by the South Indian Vaisnavite Madhvacarya (d. 1317 C.E.) in Udupi (on the Konkan coast in what is now western Karnataka), contends that paramatma is Isvara, a creator God, who is entirely independent of His created world, which includes individual jivatmas and matter.

Many Indians do not have any problem reconciling these different approaches, such as praying to Lord Visnu as part of a family tradition, while personally practicing Yoga. Reflecting the diversity of Indian culture, Yoga has never been narrowly defined as a “Hindu” practice. In fact, many of B.K.S. Iyengar’s Bombay students were Parsis. Today, along with Parsis, Sikhs, Jains, Christians, Jews, and Muslims all attend yoga classes at RIMYI in Pune.

[8]Neti, neti is from Sage Yajnavalkya (ca. 850 B.C.E.) in the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanisad IV.5.15. It signifies a method of Vedic analysis often used in Vedanta that negates all worldly experiences until nothing remains but the eternal Self — which is not definable.

[9] PYS I.12 Practice (abhyasa) and detachment (vairagya) are the means to still the movements of consciousness.

Who is the agent that form the pot? ISK XX states that buddhi is the agent, acting through the gunas, although not all schools agree. Yoga self-consciously avoids claiming that the pot was “created;” the cleverness and artistic judgment of the potter is not viewed as “creation.” The function of the gunas will be explained in the next section on Guna-parinama, followed by an explanation of buddhi in Stages of Evolution of Prakrti..

[14]Joints and organs require space and alignment: See blog post What is Alignment? Transcending Duality Through Asana

This example is derived from Sankara’s Adhyasa Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras. Adhyasa is the superimposition of one reality upon another due to misconception. Driven by fear, the observer superimposes a snake on the rope, and consequently only the snake is “known.” This corresponds to avidya (ignorance), or the mistaken notion that body, mind, and organs are the Self (Brahman) — even though they are not. Just as the illusory snake can only be removed by knowledge of the rope, so must mistaking non-Self for Self be rectified through vidya (knowledge) of the non-Self. Self (Brahman) can only be defined by negation, as has been stated in the Introduction to Samkhya Metaphysics, and attributed to Sage Yajnavalkya in a prior footnote.

[18] PYS III.13 Through these three phases [nirodha, samadhi, ekagrata parinama], cultured consciousness is transformed from its dharma (potential) state towards laksana (further refinement), and avastha (the zenith of refinement). In this way, the parinama (transformation) of elements and organs (including mind) takes place.

[26] PYS IV.34 Kaivalya (is the result of the fulfillment of the) purusarthas (and the transcendence of the) gunas. Through involution, (they return to their source and) citisakti [the power of consciousness] svarupa-pratistha (is established in her own natural piety).

[32]Linga is a sign of something, just as smoke is a sign of fire. In Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Siva, the Siva linga is a two foot high stone shaft that represents the jyotir-linga, the infinite shaft of light that extended from the heavens to the nether world.

Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy Vol. 1 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., 1932. p. 262: In lieu of prana as the life force, Samkhya has allocated that function to the spread of buddhi throughout the body. The Vedantic vayus, too, have been attributed to operations of the “buddhi… performing life-functions and sense-functions of the body.”

[36] VB II.19 Mahabhutas (gross elements) are, respectively, the visesa (particularized) evolutes of the avisesa (universal) tanmatras (subtle elements). Similarly, the buddhi-indriyas (jnanendriyas), the karmendriyas, and eleventh [organ], manas, are the visesa evolutes of the avisesa evolute of asmita. These are the sixteen visesas (diversified productions) of the gunas.

B.K.S. Iyengar, Prana & Prajna in the Yogic Path: 2013 Guru Purnima Address, RIMYI, Pune 22 July 2013. +16:20-21:50 Author transcription: This fluidity is in keeping with the flow of prana and prajna in asana practice: “prana sakti, mano sakti, and vijnana sakti are substances that flow… within the banks of skin in asana.”

B.K.S. Iyengar has distinguished between the hyphenated “aham-akara” (the “I-form”) as the physical form of the jivatman, individual soul, whose purpose is to commune with purusa — the capital-S “Self,” as well as the objects of the world, versus the non-hyphenated “ahamkara” (the “I-maker”) which actually is the small-s “self” that has a false form that impersonates purusa.

According to Larson, the Sanskrit particle kara (“making”) may also designate the indeclinable word or sound “omkara.” I believe this conveys a cosmological significance corresponding to the term purusa-kara, “purusa-embodied,” that we recite in the Patanjali invocation.

[49] The Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrisna XXII – XXXVIII describes ahamkara evolving from mahat, and both manas and the organs evolving from ahamkara.

[50] Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary with Insights from the Traditional Commentators, 2009. P. li

[58] ISK XXXIII Antahkarana (“internal organ”) is three-fold. The external is ten-fold, and is known as the context of the three-fold. The external functions in the present. The abhyantara karana (internal organ) functions in three times (past, present, future).

[59] Gerald Larson, Classical Samkhya, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979. P. 96-103; 179-80: The “horizontal” emergence of the tanmatras from ahamkara recalls the tripartite creation from an original principle in the earliest Upanisads; “vertical” emergence stems from the middle-period Upanisads.

[60] As in ISK XXXIII, B.K.S. Iyengar splits manas between both citta and the organs:

[70] Gerald Larson, Classical Samkhya, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979. P. 188: Larson has cited that in earlier texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita and Moksadharma sections of the older epic Mahabharata, the mahabhutas function in place of the tanmatras. The remaining five evolutes, which were subsequently omitted from the Samkhya Karika, were objects of the senses.

The purpose of yoga practice is to purge the citta by conquering the weaknesses of greed, anger, and delusion: vitarkah himsadayah… pratipaksha-bhavanam[PYS II.34].[1] Yoga is a discipline that builds up from the instinctive weakness of vitarka and himsa to experience the intuitive and intellectual goal of emancipation.

Today is Vyasa Purnima [the day that Sage Vyasa completed transcribing the Vedas from memory].[2] Vyasa was an incarnation of Lord Visnu. Vyasa, as the first guru, gained knowledge that was then heard by Ananta, the serpent couch on which Lord Visnu slept. Patanjali was, in turn, an incarnation of Ananta. The same Lord Visnu, through Vyasa, was the first commentator on the Yoga Sutra. That’s why we pay our respects to him today.

The second chapter, on karma marga, begins with the body because we are just scratching the surface. Body is the prop of the Self; Self depends on the finite body — which is explained in the fourth chapter concerning dhyana marga. [PYS IV. 24-28]

[Self = purusa, the individuated soul, or Seer that cannot act]

+14.00 Right action starts with pratipaksha-bhavanam.

Asana is positioning and repositioning to trace what is missing. [Right action starts with] vitarka-badhane pratipaksha-bhavanam [PYS II.33][5].The power and feeling [bhavana] must be equal on the right and left sides. Bhavana is soothing. Badhana is painful. Everyone has one pain or another. Even good things are painful: parinama tapa samskara duhkha… vivekinah [PYS II.15].[6] Patanjali guides you on how to practice asana by studying the soothing effect on one side so that you may conquer the pain on the other side. Practice is sodhana kriya.

[pratipaksha = opposite side; sodhana kriya = purification action]

Patanjali says that action is vyuttana. Reaction is nirodha. Reflection is prasanta. Vyuttanacitta, nirodha citta, and prasanta citta generate consciousness.[7] All three happen is a split second when practicing asana, pranayama, and meditation.

Nothing can be done without the prop of the body. Body is prthvi tattva, which has an akara, a shape. Water, fire, and air are substances, not objects.[8] Their prana sakti, mano sakti, and vijnana sakti are substances that flow like mercury. You cannot grip prana, mind, or intelligence. They flow without interruption.

[sakti = power, faculty; prthvi tattva = earth principle]

+18.30 …within the banks of skin in asana.

While practicing asana, pranayama, and dhyana, don’t let your prana, mind, or intelligence erode the banks of your body like water erodes the banks of a brook. In Tadasana, if your thighs and ankles inadvertently turn outward, it is like a [meandering] brook that erodes the inner and outer banks from the ankles to the knees. Skin is a jnanendriya, an organ of sense perception, that guides contraction and extension. Don’t allow practice to erode the banks of your body, which is the skin.

Practice various asanas to make the prana and prajna flow within the banks of the skin. Don’t press the front thighs forward in Tadasana, else the energy hits only into the front thigh skin, but not the back thigh. Similarly, don’t stretch the back of the calf and not the front. The three substances — manas substance, buddhi substance, and ahamkara substance — must spread evenly throughout, inside and out, front and back.

Don’t act from the vyutthana citta. Instead, rethink, “What is restraint?” Restrain the action to observe the result, the reaction.[10] In each asana study which part is tamasic, dull, which part is sattvic [luminous, pure], and which part is rajasic [vibrant].[11]

+26.00 Mind is hooked either by the objects of the senses, or the Self.

If the mind is hooked by the objects of the jnanendriyas and karmendriyas, it is sambhoga, intercourse between the mind and the objects of the senses. The substance of the mind, which is hooked to the senses in bhoga, must be withdrawn, else you must forget jnana, dharana, and dhyana.

[bhoga = the undisciplined pursuit of the pleasures of the senses by the vyuttana citta; the antonym of yoga]

The same mind, when hooked to consciousness and Self, is emancipated. [PYS II.18][12] That’s why Patanjali said the effect of the asanas is the cessation of duality. [PYS II.48][13]

+28.05 When prana and prajna flow evenly throughout the entire body, ahamkara dissolves and only purusa remains….

Prana and prajna are substances that flow like mercury. When you stand on your head in Sirsasana, are the prana and prajna in the feet dormant, or as dominant as in the forearms? When prana and prajna cover the entire bank of the body, illumination comes, and emancipation takes place.

+29.30 … which is samadhi in asana.

Patanjali says that svarupa-sunya [“devoid of nature”] is the effect of samadhi. [PYS I.43][14]Aham is Self that has no shape or form. In order to make you function, the nir-akara [form-less] Self takes the shape of akara to become aham-akara.[15]Aham-akara transforms itself into ahamkara, ego — or the personification of the true Self — takes the lead, and says, “I am doing. Me. Mine.” When prana and prajna are able to flow from head to toe, throughout the entire body without leaving any space, ahamkara dissolves and ceases to exist.[16] That is samadhi in asana. Samadhana citta means spreading the consciousness evenly throughout the entire body — harmoniously with balance, measure, and intelligence.[17]

[samadhana citta = composed, steadfast mind]

+32.05 Karma marga isdiscipline in asana.

The second chapter speaks of karma marga: kaya indriya suddhih asuddhi-ksayat tapasah [PYS II.43]. Kaya is the body. Indriya includes the senses of perception, mind, intelligence, and ahamkara. They are trained and disciplined through karma by asana and pranayama. That’s why it is called the karma marga.

+33.00 Jnana marga blends intellectual and emotional intelligence.

The third chapter is called vibhuti pada, or jnana, knowledge, or intelligence. When intellectual and emotional intelligence are blended together without deviation in the human being, he is called a saint.

Then comes kaivalya pada, the fourth chapter, the experience of aloneness. It is dhyana marga because ahamkara has dissolved. When practicing asana and the ahamkara dissolves, and prana and prajna engulf the entire body and Self — your entire being — svarupa-sunya takes place. Because there is no ahamkara, you are in a state of kaivalya-avastha, aloneness. What is left is purusa. Purusa is samyoga, and samyoga is the end of yoga practice. Aloneness is fullness. Loneliness is emptiness. If you are lonely in yoga practice, you are empty. In a state of aloneness you are full of prana and prajna moving everywhere; there is no emptiness anywhere.

[kaivalya-avastha = absolute-aloneness state; samyoga = union]

+34.50 Make friends with the body, the temple of the Self, and keep it clean.

[Karma marga:] As the body is the prop of the soul, let me be friendly [maitra] to the body, the temple of the Self. Let me keep the temple clean.

+35.25 Dhyana marga spreads prana and prajna to meditate in asana.

From that you move to dhyana marga. That’s why vibhuti pada [the third chapter] begins with dharana, dhyana, and samadhi — the dhyana margas: concentration, absorption, and total attentive awareness. Attention is concentration. Attentive awareness is meditation. Like light extending into the next room, the moment you spread prana and prajna beyond a single place to each and every place, you are meditating in the asana. It’s not physical yoga.

Dhyana marga[19] of the fourth chapter begins in the third chapter of vibhuti pada, where the intelligence is developed. Patanjali speaks of buddhi marga,[20] which is the same as dhyana marga. After attaining buddhi marga, citta marga is explained in the fourth chapter. Compared to manas, buddhi, and ahamkara, citta is more subtle. Citta has to be silenced so that citi, Self, arises. When you reach that level, tada drastuh svarupe – avasthanam, you are in a state of aloneness and free from contact of the body [PYS I.3].[21] That is why gladness has maitri karuna. Treat your body with compassion — sadhana pada I.33. Dhyana will come to you because you include gladness. Enjoying it all is upeksa, indifference to all things. That is karuna.

[maitri karuna = friendliness, compassion]

+38.05 Pause to receive the action in the asana so that the moment does not move.

As you are listening quietly and receiving my words, receive the action in the asana. Digest the action. The moment you wait and pause, you are in the present and the moment does not move. Only when the moment transforms into movement is there past and future, as well as present. [PYS III.9; IV.12, 33][22]

It is only possible to prevent the moment from [moving] when prana and prajna are interwoven when practicing asana. As the river has a bank, the inner skin is the bank of the being. The soul has to engulf the inner frontier, the inner bank of its existence. When this happens, you will be close to the effect of yoga, which is jnana-dipti, the lamp of knowledge, that glows from moment to moment, without fail. That is yoganganusthanat asuddhi-ksaye jnana-diptih aviveka-khyateh, uninterrupted flowing in sadhana, which is only possible when prana and prajna are [spread] together [PYS II.28].[23] If you practice like that, you will be close to spiritual samyoga [union].

[1] PYS II.34 vitarkah himsadayah… duhkha ajnana ananta-phalah iti pratipaksha-bhavanam:Uncertain knowledge giving rise to himsa (violence), whether done directly or indirectly, or condoned, is caused by greed, anger or delusion and they are either mild, medium and intense in degree. It results in endless pain and ignorance. Through pratipaksha-bhavanam (introspection) comes the end of pain and ignorance.

Guruji will later explain how to apply pratipaksha-bhavanam to asana.

[2]GuruPurnima is also known as Vyasa Purnima after Sage Vyasa, author of the epic Mahabharata, and compiler and editor of the Vedas and the Puranas.

[3] The first three paths are common to all Indian philosophy. Dhyana marga is the hallmark of yoga. See B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993. P. 226

[4] PYS I.23 Or citta may be restrained by profound meditation on Isvara (and total surrender to him).

[5] PYS II.33 “Improper thinking – counteract the opposite-cultivate”: The principles which are against yama and niyama are to be counteracted with right knowledge and awareness.

In this address, Guruji interprets the sutra in the context of performing asana: As part of the purification process, asana reveals how to correct unintended harm to oneself. Ethical behavior requires searching — in a physically concrete way for the cause of the harm — the prati-paksa, opposite-side, wheither it be left versus right, inner versus outer, front versus back, or top versus bottom.

“Badhana means pain… When there is pain here (on the left side of the neck and shoulder), pratipaksha-bhavanam: what is the bhavana, feeling, here (on the right side)?”

[8]Water, fire, and air are substances, not objects: Along with earth, these elements have form; only space has no form other than the shape of its container, or more subtly, sound. They are symbolic rather than literal substances, e.g. fluidity as opposed to water as H2O. In that sense they certainly are not objects. The term “object” also is negatively associated with “objects of the senses” that draw the manas towards bhoga and away from yoga.

As all matter, these substances are comprised of gunas. Dasgupta defines guna as “the manner in which a substance reacts.” Although not everyone agrees, he describes them as “substantive entities and not abstract qualities (each quality is a unit of substance)” that are the very “bases of substantive matter.” Gunas are “our feelings…. Lower down the scale of evolution, the automatic reactions… are concomitant with… feelings which never rise to the level of knowledge.” [Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy Vols. 1 Cambridge University Press, 1932 P. 242-43]

The Bhagavad Gita describes sattvic action as devoid of likes and dislikes, and without desire for fruit; rajasic action as with ego, with a wish to obtain desires, and with too much effort; tamasic action as caused by delusion, disregard of consequences that injure oneself as well as others. [BG XVIII.6-9]

[11] This implies that the senses lead us astray. Counter that tendency to gravitate towards rajas and tamas by seeking the purity of sattva in sodhana kriya.

[12] PYS II.18 Nature and its three qualities of brilliance, action (kriya), and stability, and its evolutes, the elements (bhutas), the mind, senses of perception (jnanendriyas) and organs of action (karmendriyas), exist eternally to serve the Seer, for bhoga (enjoyment) or apavarga (emancipation).

B.K.S. Iyengar distinguishes between the hyphenated “aham-akara” (the “I-form”) as the physical form of the jivatman, individual soul, whose purpose is to commune with purusa — the capital-S “Self,” as well as the objects of the world, versus the non-hyphenated “ahamkara” (the “I-maker”) which actually is the small-s “self” that has no form and impersonates purusa.

[16] Depending on which model of prakrti one subscribes to, ahamkara either merges back into the buddhi, the individuated intelligence, or into the mahat, the universal intelligence from which it evolved.

[19]Dhyana is synonymous with samadhi in older Upanisad texts: Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary with Insights from the Traditional Commentators, 2009. P. 304

[20]Dharana is bringing buddhi to a refined and tranquil steadiness. In dhyana it gets reabsorbed into citta: B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993. P. 32

[22] PYS IV.12 The existence of the past and the future is as real as the present. As moments roll into movements which have yet to appear as the future, the quality of knowledge in one’s intellect and consciousness is affected.

PYS IV.33 As the mutation of the gunas cease to function, time, the uninterrupted movement of moments, stops. The deconstruction of the flow of time is comprehensible only at this final stage of emancipation.

[23] PYS II.28 By dedicated practice of the yoganga, the asuddhi (impurities) are destroyed and jnana (wisdom) radiates in viveka khyateh.

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